Tendon guard



April 23, 1957 E. H. PLANERT TENDON GUARD Filed May 25, 1955 IN VEN TOR. llizzlardfifilaneri Y MW: mar MW,

U i d. States TENDON GUARD Edward H. Planert, Mount Prospect, 11]., assignor to Planert Skate Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application May 25, 1955, Serial No. 510,953 l'Claim. c1. 361) This invention relates generally to safety devices for athletic activities, and more particularly to improved means for guarding the Achilles tendon and heel.

Several athletic sports, most prominent of which is probably the game of. ice hockey, have produced crippling injuries to the Achilles tendon to the degree that guards are now commonly employed by all professional hockey players in this country. My present invention is directed to improvements in such tendon guards, the same having particular adaptation for use with the athletic shoe of a shoe skate although its features and construction readily lend the device for use with athletic shoes in general.

Briefly, the tendon guard of this invention distinguishes over prior devices of this class first by virtue of its removable construction. An improved means for fastening the guard to the quarter of an athletic shoe and biasing such into a gripping condition around the heel and Achilles tendon of the wearer is also a distinct improvement in this art. The exact features and arrangement of elements by which I accomplish the above features will be described more fully hereinafter.

The main object of this invention is to provide a new and improved guard for the Achilles tendon.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved Achilles tendon guard especially useful with athletic shoes and embodying improved means for removably fastening such guard to the athletic shoe in a manner causing such to hug the heel and tendon of the wearer.

The above and further objects, features and advantages of my invention will be recognized by those skilled in the art from the descriptive materials which follow and particularly with the disclosure of a preferred embodiment of its concepts as found in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a typical shoe skate and the improved tendon guard of this invention prior to their assembly;

Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1, but showing the improved tendon guard of this invention in combination with the athletic shoe and illustrating particularly the operational positions of my tendon guard.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially at line 3-3 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereon; and

Figure 4 is a front elevational view looking at the inside of my improved tendon guard and showing a particular improved fastening and ankle hugging means employed therein.

Considering now the features of my invention, it will be understood from Figure 1 that my improved tendon guard 10 is illustrated in a position for attachment to an athletic shoe 11 or a type familiar in shoe skates so as to surround and embrace the Achilles tendon and heel portion of the wearer. The guard 10, as best shown in 2,789,374 Patented A r. 23,1195? ice I this figure, comprises an elongated substantially semistays 18 comprising lengths of spring steel or the like cylindrical body portion 12 formed with two forwardly extending wing portions 13 each of which is equipped with a lace receiving eyelet 14 at its extreme outer end. The

. body portion 12 is preferably formed of leather, plastic similar to corset stays. It will be appreciated that the wing portions 13 are formed substantially mid-way of the vertical length of the body portion 12 and that the several flexible stays 18 are disposed in side by side longitudinal parallelism substantially throughout the body portion-of the guard, but such are not provided in the wing portions.

Afsnap button 19 is disposed substantially centrally of the back wall of the body portion; such being arranged .to cooperate'with a mating snap 20 disposed at the upper end of the shoe quarter at therear of the ankle band.

The general shape and appearance of the tendon guard 10 is substantially semi-cylindrical, as mentioned, and such shape or configuration is maintained by-and-large by a resilient horseshoe springmember 22 disposed at the lower end of the body portion where it is maintained in a suitable pocket formed by spaced stitching 23, beneath the lower ends of the stays 18. Such horseshoe spring member 22, when at rest, has its open end of a width slightly narrower than the counter portion of the shoe so that it resiliently grips the shoes counter-portion when forced thereonto, as will be described presently.

From Figure 2 it will be appreciated that the normal non-operating position of the tendon guard 10 is as illustrated in dotted lines therein. When the guard 10 is positioned with the snap button 19 and snap 20 engaged in a familiar manner, lacing 25 is passed through the eyelets 14 at the upper end of the guard and drawn up tightly in lacing the shoe. As initially disposed the guard assumes the dotted line position in Figure 2 with the spring 22 being unflexed and having its open throat embracing the heel of the shoe thereby to hold the upper end of the body portion tilted slightly inwardly toward the ankle of the wearer. This is brought about largely by the unflexed condition of the spring before the same is drawn onto the counter of the shoe by insertion of the wearers foot into the shoe and subsequent tightening of the lacings 25. When lacings 25 are tightened, however, the biased position of the guard is altered to draw the body tightly into a substantially vertical position causing the spring member 22 to flex outwardly and move inwardly over the counter of the shoe toward the ankle of the wearer and thus hug the same substantially at the ankle bone. The snug fit thus obtained affords maximum comfort to the wearer and maintains the guard in position to provide the necessary protection to the Achilles tendon at the heel; the flexible steel stays serving to prevent injury of the tendon by deflecting a sharp skate runner, or the like.

Of outstanding importance and appeal in the present guard is its detachable nature which is provided by the simple snap button attaching system and the cooperating lacing of the athletic shoe. It is fully contemplated that the tendon guard will be marketed in conjunction with athletic shoes provided with the snap portions 20 although such is not necessarily required as this type of snap may be readily applied by a local shoemaker.

Having thus described the features and elements which comprise the improved tendon guard of this invention, it will be appreciated that while the same is shown in conjunction with a preferred embodiment of its concepts,

numerous changes, modifications and substitution of equivalent material's andcons't'ructions may be employed without necessarily departing from the spirit and'scop'e of my invention. As a consequence it is not my intention to be limited to the particular form and features of the tendon guard as herein described and shown except as may appear in the following appended claims.

I claim:

A tendon guard of the class described for use externally of the heel of an athletic shoe and protective of the Achillestendon of the wearer, comprising, a flexible body portion, flexible stay members extending longitudinally of said body portion and held in" spaced arallelism by interposed stitching means, wing portions formed adjacent the upper frontal Corners of saidbody ortion for extension about the u per ankle of the wearer,

s'ai'd wing portions extending. substantially transversely to the longitudinal axes of said stay means and body, portion, eyelet means adjacent the outer ends of said wing portions for the passage of lacings'to fasten the guard in encircling fashion about the wearer's ankle, snap fastener means disposed intermediate the ends of said body portion and arranged to enga es eooperatin na fastener mounted at the heel of the athletic shoe for detachably joining the guard to the shoe, and spring means disposed transversely of the longitudinal of said stay members adjacent the lower end of said body portion, said spring means comprising a horseshoe spring member which, when at rest, has its open end of a width slightly narrower than the counter portion of the shoe, the arrangement being such that the tightening of the lacings at the upper end of the guard aligns the eyelets of said wing portions with the upper eyelets of the athletic shoe to bias the lower end of the guard toward the ankle of the wearer about said snap fastener as a fulcrum thereby causing said spring means to resiliently grip and embrace the heel of the athletic shoe substantially about the wearers Achilles tendon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,347,657 Peters July 27, 1920 2,211,822 Jennings Aug. 20, 1940 2,563,763 Vietas Aug. 7, 1951 2,617,207 Jennett Nov. 11, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 166,192 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1934 640,332 Great Britain "July 19, 1950 2,678 Great Britain Nov. 24-, 1886 

